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Tweedledum
and Tweedledee
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Problems
In Company Course Design
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Contrary to general
opinion, schools, and particularly private schools-have aims that are comparable to those
of business: they provide services and obtain profits. Without a healthy financial base,
these schools would quickly be bankrupted, and replaced by more commercially efficient
concerns (Handy and Aitken 1986).
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Success is not solely
dependent upon the uniqueness or the quality of the marketable services, but also upon
location, the amount of competition, economic overhead, and general cost for running and
marketing specialized business English courses for adults. Most important of all is the
demand that the customers register for such program services.
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This paper describes the
experience of a small, private language school organizing foreign language courses (both
on and off-site) for company employees with mixed language abilities.
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Before entering a market
with a new product or service, it is normal procedure for a business to send out teams of
researchers and marketing specialists to sound out prospects for the new endeavor.
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Similarly, at the start of
every new school year, private language schools in Italy campaign vigorously for new
students in the local press and on television. But no new school has undertaken or
successfully completed serious market research of local businesses, partly because of a
lack of cooperation from the firms themselves.
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To be fair, the personnel
departments of local businesses often do not have the time to fill in questionnaires, or
submit to independent interviews on such issues as staff recruitment and selection,
English language needs, and company policy towards retraining.
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This does not mean that
corporations do not provide schools with needed information, but that a time frame of a
year or two may be incurred. After a period when the corporations come to know the schools
as professionally reliable, they recognize that by providing the schools with the data,
they can benefit from a well-tailored language program for their employees.
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So, in contrast with the
norm in other economic sectors in Italy, it is the companies that make the first moves in
contacting language institutes for special programs, and not vice versa.
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Harmonizing the needs of Tweedledum and Tweedledee
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The language school and
its instructors may meet a new class in less than perfect conditions. Students may show
mixed language abilities, a wide range in age and position, different personal attitudes
towards the target language and culture, and (if the course is offered and paid for by the
firm), a difference in motivation, commitment, and dedication to regular attendance and
study.
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It will almost immediately
become clear that a difference in perception exists between what the company executives
feel their employees need and what objectives the employees hold. This difference is like
the two contrary character twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, in Lewis Carroll's Alice
in Wonderland : and if these differences are not resolved, there is likelihood of
future tension arising, placing real obstacles upon language learning.
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The firm's decision to
invest in human capital by retraining or "upskilling" its personnel is certain
to be linked to a general desire to improve the company's professional market image and
competence to deal with foreign clients-whether suppliers or buyers. But the employees
themselves may not see the course in the light of work-related goals but see it serving
their general interests, such as travel, meeting English-speaking friends (and possibly
future spouses), helping their children with school, or for finding more lucratively
satisfying occupations. And yet, they also need the language for their work. Through
interviews with their language instructors, these employees can specify which work
activities require English, thereby providing the teacher with important input for drawing
up an acceptable, working syllabus.
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As the main interest of
the company is to ensure that those attending the language course will be satisfied, it
will be wise if the school, represented by the course teacher, negotiates directly with
her/his class to discover what they hope to achieve from the course. Obviously, the
school's success in producing acceptable quality services will give it more value-added
bargaining power should the firm desire to extend the contract with additional courses.
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Following
a short entry test-multiple choice grammatical exercise and an
oral interview-the instructor has a firsthand understanding of
the language level of the students and precise evidence of the
type of language repair work that should be provided and incorporated
into the course.
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Hollett (1993) has
identified three distinct approaches to organizing a company course:
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- adopting a commercially prepared syllabus (textbook, audio and
videotapes);
- identifying learner needs and adopting a variety
of authentic or didactically simplified materials from a multitude
of genres and registers; and
- allowing the learners to explain what they need for their work.
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In my
experience a course design involves being open-minded and flexible,
not rigidly adhering to predetermined models, but treating every
new experience as unique. Each new course requires creativity.
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As Hollett admits, her
strategies are stereotypes that can be revised. It is possible to use her models at the
micro-level: negotiating units, themes, or tasks with the students themselves. It was this
particular modified version of Hollet's model which I adopted in the preparation of our
course.
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It was
convenient to deploy ready-made tested materials. Students needed
a textbook as a point of reference to measure their own learning.
It was also important in the company course for the teachers to
be seen as efficiently prepared, and the sight of a published
text immediately gives a more authoritative impression than ad
hoc photocopied handout matter. However, all commercially produced
materials are incomplete as they are written for classes with
differing needs. Thus, it is essential that the teacher and all
members of the class work together closely, each constantly negotiating
and reevaluating to see if student needs are being met, even asking
them to bring specialist material to the class to supplement what
the instructor provided. With this direct cooperative assistance,
the teacher will become more aware of their needs and more willing
to draw upon authentic language to design teaching materials which,
as Henry Widdowson remarked, can "activate language learning
and language use in general." (1984:199)
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Unlike Falter's similar
study of an L2 course of German engineering undergraduates which focused on their presumed
future careers (1991), i.e., the materials presented by the teacher and students were
based on a hypothesis of what their occupational needs were, the present course was truly
a learner-centered syllabus, designed in cooperation with the learners themselves.
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The course and the materials
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An eight month course (80
contact hours) spent after regular working hours should not be an extension of a manager's
intensive course or it is certain to drive clients to boredom and non- attendance. The
initial questionnaire will have indicated the interests, needs, and the expectations of
the learners; so the instructor, (who is permanently under the scrutiny of the clients)
cannot hoodwink them into engaging in class activities that are not of any real practical
value.
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Furthermore, the wide
range of language levels requires that the course take on task/skill-and
content/theme-based approaches, focusing on language structures, situations, and
content-three different learning variables to permit learners to select for themselves the
most suitable learning strategies for the language matter provided.
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A course for a
middle-sized company in the food and drink sector (350 employees), that has national and
international networks, focused on speaking, listening, and reading skills to perform
tasks like answering the telephone, presenting lectures, and oral paraphrasing
(reiterating points during a discussion that may be unclear). Once these tasks were
carried out by the learners on the job, their responses were subsequently reported back
and commented on by the class and utilized by the instructor as authentic follow-up
simulations-cornerstones of new activities.
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Moreover,
as it was expected that certain members of the class would be
absent for up to ten days at conferences, workshops, and trade
fairs, basic study skills, such as using monolingual dictionaries
and taking notes, were inserted into the course. They were also
encouraged to make full use of the school's resource center to
listen and view as much language material as they and their instructor
deemed appropriate for preparing class assignments and, in the
long-term, widening their linguistic competence.
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The students' presence at
the center, and the teacher's supervision there, allowed for more individualized
attention, as when older learners, more attuned to traditional grammar- translation and
uncomfortable working with more modern communicative methods, could be given time to
review those aspects of the course that caused the most problems. Thus, the more the
learners cooperated with the instructor, the more they could claim a share in the course's
success.
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The course was centered on
two types of activities: the first was instructor-learner based with structures taught in
a situation context. The second was learner-learner based, with students presenting
lectures, or discussing selected project-work, and the teacher acting as a consultant
giving advice at the preparatory stage, only monitoring the discussion for possible errors
to be treated in successive activities.
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After the presentation of
the language structures, practice for accuracy was first carried out in small groups or
pairs using open or closed-guided activities as role plays, sociodramas, simulations (Di
Pietro 1990), or by recording voice-over dialogues to silent films (Mangilli-Climpson
1990). The language structures were then recycled for fluency practice through what Peter
Skehan (1993:23) has referred to as "task families," where tasks resemble one
another, and permit the use of similar expressions. This requires the learners to
communicate using the new language forms rather than relying on past, fossilized
utterances. Consequently the students become aware that they are mastering previously
unfamiliar language, which is a positive sign of encouragement and progress.
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In the second type of
activity, project-work, the students adopted the roles of sales representatives of
selected goods and services, e.g. holiday tours, cosmetics, luxury cars, or life-
insurance. The activity involved a group working in private on its chosen sector, and then
delegating a spokesperson to make a presentation on the benefits of its products,
supported by short off-air recorded television commercials, tabular statistics, and
reports.
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The main outcomes of the
course both for the learners and the faculty can be examined in terms of short-term and
long- term results.
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During the course, the
learners appeared to shift their attitudes from one of disbelief at being given the
responsibility of collaborating as co-designers, to one of complete enthusiasm and
cooperation. Indeed, they enjoyed wearing an expert's hat in assisting the instructor in
collecting and preparing course material-especially when required to explain technical
jargon. Moreover, as the language instructor was identified as someone akin to a
production-line manager, who wished to obtain results after the instructional stage, the
course members were eager to work hard, constantly demanding monitoring to identify
errors, and in certain cases even requesting additional tasks to be done outside the
classroom.
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Though only eighty percent
completed the course-the remainder dropping out because of the heavy work load-this group
was surprised by their progress and the pleasure they had gained from the course. They had
increased their confidence in using English and had expanded their vocabulary-their
criteria of progress and achievement. They did, indeed, improve in both areas as they were
able to fulfill all their tasks in the class, initially with considerable support from the
teacher, but gradually with much less, using learnt skills. They still, however, reported
they found listening comprehension difficult; and they felt grammar and pronunciation were
important areas they had yet to master.
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For the long term, the
course demonstrated that there was a market for such a program, and the students'
enthusiasm reassured the course designers that the program had achieved satisfactory
results.
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Furthermore, certain
members of the class chose to go beyond the confines of the course so as to improve their
L2 by partaking in non-curricular activities as, for example, attending English film
nights at the school, asking information about hiring English au pairs , and
arranging for English-speaking children to come and stay with their families. In other
words, they had ceased to consider English as just another school subject, but as a skill
that had to be practiced and used on all occasions. It also signified that if good will is
demonstrated to clients, i.e. giving attention to individual problems, it is likely that
students will view the new service favorably, and be willing to take part in other
language activities. Once the learners' enthusiasm has been awakened, the reserves for
learning and using the language can be tapped.
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The success of the course
also raised the image of the school; and when the company decided to renew its contract,
as many new learners enrolled as were in the first course. This allowed the school to
divide the course into language levels and occupational divisions, separating the
technical and electronic staff from personnel in general management and administration,
making the classes more homogeneous teaching units.
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Thus as the conditions
changed, with the arrival of different learners with particular needs, and different
instructors with individual teaching philosophies, the Hollett model had to be modified
further to arrive at solutions that were beneficial to all concerned.
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Our experience with this
company course has indicated the following:
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- It is possible to design a business course on the
spur-of-the-moment and still remain professionally efficient and in control of the
organization;
- It is vital to allow learners to share in the running of the
course and in directing their own learning;
- Teachers must take an active part in producing materials that will
conform to the needs of the learners.
- Program models involving working adults should be treated solely
as guides that must be fine-tuned to local and individual conditions, interests and needs;
- Success can be realized only if there is creativity and goodwill
on the part of the teacher. The goodwill will be transferred to the learners to help
instill a conflict-free environment, the ideal setting for all learners of L2.
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Massimo Mangilli-Climpson teaches EAP/ESP courses to
undergraduate students of economics at the Cˆ Foscari University, Venice, and is
Co-Director of L.C. and T.B. in Udine. He has published three books, and numerous articles
and textbooks. |
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Return |
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- DI Pietro, R. J. 1990. Helping people do things
with English. English Teaching Forum, 28, 3, pp. 35-8.
- Falter, P. C. 1991. Gearing language teaching to the requirements
of industry. English Teaching Forum, 29, 3, pp. 11-15.
- Handy, C. and R. Aitken. 1986. Understanding schools as
organizations. London: Pelican.
- Hollett, V. 1993. Managing time in the business English classroom.
BESIG Newsletter, 1, pp.14.
- Mangilli-Climpson, M. 1990. Silent for speaking perspectives.
TESOL-Italy, 1, pp. 43-51.
- Skehan, Peter. 1993. A framework for the implementation of task-
based learning. IATEFL Annual Conference Report. Plena-ries. Swansea. pp.17-25.
- Widdowson, H.G. 1984. Explorations in applied linguistics 2.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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